Journalists can get great stories by investigating whether businesses are living up to their legal commitments and PR pledges to protect workers’ rights, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) business and human rights specialist Harpreet Kaur told NPF’s International Trade Fellows in Singapore. [Transcript | Video]
5 takeaways:
➀ Businesses care about their human rights record for three reasons. First, those who violate laws or regulations face operational risk, including the risk of being shut down, Kaur said. Second, violators may face legal risks, including fines. Increasingly, companies are also mindful of the reputational risk to their brands. “Nike had to change its business model in the ’70s after all the sweatshop labor movements started,” she noted.
➁ Terrific human rights stories can be written from any beat. Stories about the fairness and safety of working conditions in the international supply chains are coming from journalists covering fashion, technology, sports, the stock market, taxes, hate speech, politics and the environment, as well as trade, said Kaur, who oversees a UNDP project to promote responsible business practices in Asia. She showed examples of international coverage of these issues here.
➂ Know the rules that businesses and countries have committed to following. Labor and human rights are governed by a wide array of international treaties, conventions and trade agreements, as well as national laws. In 2021, the UNDP produced a handbook for journalists covering business and human rights. Kapur noted that foundational documents include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which most countries have signed. Labor rights are also codified in the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) eight core conventions, which many Asian countries have ratified. That means countries are legally obligated to make and implement laws to protect their citizens’ rights. Journalists need to distinguish between pledges and legally binding commitments – and between corporate social responsibility, which is voluntary, and business and human rights, which aim to give legal remedies to those who have been harmed, Kaur said.
➃ Find out if the country you are reporting on has a National Action Plan. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted in 2011, “has become the most authoritative and global standard of framework on holding businesses accountable on human rights,” Kaur noted, and it has led many exporting countries to adopt action plans for reform. Countries that have National Action — now including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Mongolia – have agreed that they have a legal duty to protect human rights and offer remedies for violations. (Rights without effective remedies do not mean much, she noted.) Unlike governments, businesses do not have a legal obligation to prevent human rights abuses, though they do have to follow local laws and regulations. This has prompted the adoption of “due diligence” legislation, particularly in EU countries, requiring EU companies to police their own supply chains, Kaur explained.
➄ Good coverage comes down to reporting on companies’ purchasing practices. Human rights depend on whether international buyers are willing to pay the price – in some cases as little as 40 cents – to protect workers. “Map your supply chains,” Kaur advised. “Track the money. Trace the money. Where does the money eventually come from, or where does the money eventually go to?” Follow up on whether suppliers are living up to commitments made under trade agreements. “The trade deal signed between Indonesia and NAFTA states recently on palm oil has actually added a clause that says that Indonesian palm oil will have a preferential treatment, but the suppliers will have to declare and certify that… this palm oil has been sourced ethically, which means ensuring wages are paid, ensuring labor rights, ensuring human rights,” she said.
National Press Foundation’s International Trade Fellowship in Singapore is sponsored by the Hinrich Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content.
